Over recent years we have seen mobile reach maturity, the impact of infographics on content marketing. With both greater broadband speeds and more efficient formats, online video is now part of the marketing mix for any business.
As a business marketing tool, a video is still often seen as the expensive option, rather than the investment. Today, stating that a piece of content is a video appears to increase engagement across all channels, according to Smart Insights.
2015 B2B Video Content Marketing Survey Results
Based off responses from over 350 B2B marketing, agency and management professionals, the highlights of the B2B Video Content Survey are impressive:
- 96% of B2B organisations are engaged in video content marketing
- 73% say that video has positively changed marketing results
- 83% are using video content for website marketing
- 50% are using video content for email marketing
- 75% are optimising video content for SEO
Through 2015 over 500 hours of video were uploaded to Youtube every minute, up from 300 in 2014, and there appears to be continuing to increase. So is video an option for every business? With so many options now available to businesses of every type and size, a video should be seen as vital as email marketing.
Where to start with online video
Plan ahead is always good advice, think about what your audience would like to see and what you can accomplish with your time and budget.
- Screencast a demo of your product, rather than screenshots or a text description, customers can see exactly why they need your product. Try a different video for a different user.
- Film 15-second testimonials from real customers and evangelists. These act as word of mouth and can be very powerful, however, there can often be doubt over authenticity. Let your customers speak directly, it can also be a chance to show their own product or service too.
As you become more confident these can be expanded, your 15-second testimonial can become a 3-minute interview. Give key members of staff a platform to talk more about the company products/services and culture or take your latest blog post to a new level, and a new audience.
Online video for small businesses
While video has been available to businesses for many years the cost of entry has often been prohibitive for small businesses, leading to poor quality videos being produced, both in terms of content and technical ability. This has been the big change in the last few years with production costs falling and the rise of high-quality cameras available to the more creative.
If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million
Any SME looking at online video needs to consider the investment and be aware of the return, whether that is from sales or the increased awareness of the brand. In 2008, Forrester researcher James L. McQuivey stated that “If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million”, and this is backed up by users. An interesting, informative video increases the viewer’s perception of the business, they make the information easy to digest and can improve trust between brand and consumer.
One of the most famous examples of the success of video has been the Dollar Shave Club, originally filmed as part of their pitch to an investor, the video was produced for an estimated $4,000.
Within the first 48 hours on YouTube 12,000 people had signed up, and as of March 2016, it has been viewed over 22m times.
The point is, a decent launch video is at least worth the effort. If you’re trying to get maximum publicity at the lowest possible cost, you can’t do much better, though you should consider the following expert tips.
- Don’t release in a vacuum
- Make it funny, or at least entertaining
- Make it Relevant
- Make sure your tech can support it
Always consider the audience you are trying to reach and ensure the video is relevant to them. If it’s not the most appropriate means of getting your message across, you are probably wasting your time.